The Chinese New Year celebrations kick off today and promise to be more dazzling than ever before. Beth Neil looks at the ever-growing North East Chinese community which has become such an important part of Geordie life.

It was 1978 when Peter Cheng took a gamble and opened up his Chinese supermarket on Newcastle's Stowell Street. The area was a derelict wasteland where buildings stood empty and neglected.

More than 25 years later, the gamble has paid off. The store, Wing Hong, goes from strength to strength and Stowell Street itself is now a flourishing community, packed with bars and restaurants.

Peter's son, Ken, 34, takes care of the day-to-day running of the shop. The fantastic wafts of Chinese herbs and spices hit you as soon as you walk through the doors of Wing Hong where, today, Ken is hard at work.

"My father came to England from Hong Kong in the early 1960s and worked as a waiter. He noticed a gap in the market as all the Chinese restaurants in Newcastle had to pick up their produce from London twice a week.

"He first set up the supermarket back in 1975 on Westgate Road and, after a few years, moved to Stowell Street."

Most of the region's Oriental restaurants rely on the store for their produce. But with celebrity chefs popping up left, right and centre, all things culinary are in vogue and Wing Hong is no longer just catering for the restaurant industry.

"People see Jamie Oliver on the TV using things like lemon grass and banana leaves and so they come to us for the ingredients. Everyone is a lot more adventurous in their cooking now which is great. Also, people go away on holiday to places like Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong, come back and want to recreate the food they tasted over there."

The Chengs are thrilled to have opened the first business on Stowell Street which is now the nucleus of Newcastle's booming Chinatown. Peter Cheng also had a hand in launching the first Chinese restaurant on the street, Jade Garden. It is now a cafe bar.

"I am so proud that my dad recognised this place as the future of Chinatown," says Ken. "All of this today is like his vision, all his hard work and dedication has paid off. He's in his 60s now but is still quite active in the business now and my mum Ann helps out as well."

Ken and his brother and sisters were all born and bred in Newcastle. He says the city has completely transformed since they was growing up and attending Kenton Comprehensive.

"I remember back then there were only about five Chinese kids in the whole school. Yeah, we got picked on, but that's all changed now. Society's different and a lot more accepting. On a Newcastle match day we used to have to pull the shutters down on the supermarket and we'd get police protection. Now, it's just a friendly, happy atmosphere with no problems.

"A lot of people came from Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s to do business. These days we are getting more and more Chinese students from mainland China. An English education is seen as something really good and so people come over here to learn. There's around 3,000 mainland Chinese students studying in the city. There are also increasing numbers of people coming from Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore."

Ken lives in Benton with his wife, Lisa, 30, and their two children, Matthew, four, and three-year-old Alexander. Lisa is expecting their third child in August. They are bringing the kids up to speak Cantonese as well as English.

"I think it's important for them to have a strong cultural identity. I regard myself as a BBC - British Born Chinese. When I was about three, I was sent back to Hong Kong for a few years to live with my grandparents. I think that was an important part of growing up."

The arrival of the Chinese in Newcastle can be traced back about 50 years, much later than the settlers in Liverpool, Manchester and London.

Most came here by natural migration, in search of business opportunities. The first Chinese restaurant, the Marlborough Cafe opened in the city on Scotswood Road in 1949 when the estimated Chinese population was a mere 30.

By 1962, a further 14 Chinese restaurants had opened, although still none of them on Stowell Street.

As Newcastle's Chinese population has increased over the last 20 years (according to the 2001 Census, there are currently 2,000 living permanently in the city), so has the development of Chinatown become more ambitious.

Part of the masterplan, a ceremonial arch, funded by grants from the city council, One NorthEast and the Lottery, is being built in Shanghai and will be transported over the North East later this year. The arch will stand at the heart of the regeneration.

Tony Yau, manager of the Big Dragon Project, said the developments made Newcastle an exciting place to be.

"Often, the bigger the Chinatown in a city, the stronger the economy. It's getting bigger and better all the time and there's a lot of really diverse businesses springing up.

"The development of Charlotte Square is great and we plan to extend that all the way down to Blackfriars.

"And, of course, this time next year we should have our arch and hopefully new lighting down Stowell Street, which will make the area a real tourist attraction."

It is the sheer graft of the Chinese population and community leaders that has made Chinatown so vibrant.

But it was a cold, damp, miserable November when Sow Fong Cole arrived in England. Her Royal Air Force husband Clive had been posted from their home in Malaysia to Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Quite a culture shock for Sow Fong. Her English was limited and she was terrified about adapting to a completely new way of life.

"It was so cold and wet," she remembers. "Clive was working different shifts so I felt terribly lonely and isolated. The miners were on strike as well, so it wasn't the happiest of places. I come from a big family so it was hard leaving them."

That was more than 30 years ago. After a decade in Yorkshire, Clive quit the Air Force, and he and Sow Fong moved north to his native Newcastle. By then, they had two children, Mark and Charlotte, now aged 32 and 30. The family settled in Lancaster Street in the city's West End.

"When we first arrived in the North East, it was difficult for me. The weather didn't help! But Clive's parents and sisters made me feel so welcome, it didn't take long to settle in. I think it helped having the children around because I was enjoying watching them grow and I didn't feel so cut off."

Sow Fong, 59, who speaks four languages, has been instrumental in helping develop Newcastle's Chinatown into the thriving community that exists today.

A qualified social worker, she is now a community development officer based at Newcastle's Callerton House. The centre provides services for people from black and ethnic minorities.

She also produces Chinese Connection, a BBC Radio Newcastle Sunday evening show in Cantonese.

"This is my home now," she smiles. "This Chinese New Year will be the best ever, with so many people behind it."

As I leave the centre, Sow Fong introduces me to Albert Fong, a wholesaler who came over to Newcastle from Hong Kong in 1976. "I came here to study mathematics, and settled," he says.

"There wasn't a big Chinese community here in those days. Now, it's grown so much, there's not enough jobs to go round for the local Chinese people."

Albert lives in Sunniside with his wife, Amy, and daughters Evelyn and Emily. Both girls attended the Chinese school at Heaton Manor where they learned Cantonese.

"It's funny, though," laughs Albert, "all the young Chinese just speak English to each other. They don't communicate in Cantonese."

Welcome for Year of the Monkey

Today marks New Year for Chinese communities around the world, but festivities only begin on Sunday when the Year of the Monkey is welcomed.

Volleys of firecrackers will warn off evil spirits while singers and dancers line the streets of Newcastle to mark the start.

The underlying message is for peace and happiness. Often it is a time for forgiveness as grudges are set aside and people greet each other wishing bygones be bygones.

Traditionally, no work is done on New Year's Day for fear that it will wash away any good luck. Even washing your hair is frowned upon and having a haircut will mean health and fortune are cut off. Falling out and swearing are also definite no-nos.

Red, the colour of good luck, is everywhere. Windows and doors are painted red, while red paper couplets are displayed on houses and shops with wishes of happiness, wealth, longevity and happy marriage.

Rules regarding meals are strictly followed as families eat vegetarian meals as a sign of self-purification and renewal, but the most popular tradition is giving hung bao, `good luck money' in red envelopes.

The sign of the monkey is a charming, cheeky, mischievous and ingenious character. They are said to have little respect for authority, and are often in trouble. This impish nature means they are often bad at relationships. People born in a monkey year, including 1992, 1980, 1968, 1956 and 1944, are born under the sign of fantasy and of all the signs, monkeys are the nearest to mankind.

Newcastle's festivities kick off this Sunday at 11am in Chinatown. The spectacular Lion Dance starts at 12.30pm on St Andrew's Street and Stowell Street. The Unicorn Dance begins at 12.45pm on the Bath Lane stage.

For more information call (0191) 273 3264 or log on to www.chinesefestival.co.uk